Steve Reed MP: speeches 2025

266 published records · newest first.

Speeches

21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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Of course, social tariffs already exist within the individual water companies—Sir Jon has made recommendations about that. We will consult on that later in the year and then take decisions as we bring forward legislation in the new year.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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I agree with my hon. Friend. We had an example earlier of the complacency with which the SNP treats these kinds of issues. There is only one chance now in Scotland for a reset: the election of a Scottish Labour Government in Holyrood to work to clean up pollution from our rivers, lakes and seas, as we are doing.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend makes an important point, because of course water infrastructure is critical for housing development, economic development and economic growth in every single region of the country. Today I have accepted in principle one of Sir Jon’s recommendations that will allow us for the first time to align water infrastructure investment and spatial planning, so that those homes and factories can be built faster for the benefit of local people.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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I think my hon. Friend has already done the job for me.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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Well, the answer to that question is very quick: yes, it does.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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I support what the hon. Gentleman says about the Environment Act, which is a worthwhile piece of legislation passed by the previous Government. I also support what he says about ensuring that people have more involvement at community level. I will certainly take that on board as we work through the consultation.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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I hope that the hon. Member will be reassured by the fact that I have ringfenced customers’ money so that it can no longer be diverted for payment of bonuses and dividends, as was commonplace under the previous Government. It will be spent only on what it was intended for, which is investing in better water infrastructure. If that does not happen, it will be refunded to customers.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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I would be more than happy to write to the right hon. Member with the details he is asking for, but as I have said earlier, we are also speeding up the planning process and treating reservoirs as nationally significant infrastructure, meaning that I, as the Secretary of State, will take the consenting decision so that we can do this in months rather than the years or even decades it has been taking up till now.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is a vocal champion for his constituents. He is quite right to demand more compensation when outages happen, and an ombudsman. That is what the Government will provide, so that we can give better support to customers who are let down by the water companies. We are on the side of bill payers and the environment; the previous Government were on the side of neither.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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The right hon. Gentleman makes a very important point. Anglers are quite rightly furious about the level of pollution, which is destroying fish and other life in our rivers, but also about the impact of abstractions, particularly from chalk streams, so the new regulator will be engaging with them. Sir Jon has proposed new mechanisms for volunteers and campaigners to engage with the system that were not available previously. We will consult on those in the autumn, and move ahead with legislation following that.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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I was slightly confused by that question, if I am honest. My hon. Friend is very brave to go swimming in the North sea, but I know that many people enjoy that. The changes that we are making will bring about effective regulation and appropriate levels of investment and protect customers from the shocking bill hikes that we saw last year, which were the direct result of 14 years of failure by the Conservative Government. I am sure my hon. Friend’s constituents will welcome that.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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I agree: it is important that these changes are brought in as quickly as possible. The state of our water sector, given the levels of pollution in our waterways and the unacceptable bill hikes that customers experienced last year, is a national scandal. We cannot allow things to continue. We will move at the greatest possible speed, and I am sure that my hon. Friend will hold our feet to the fire.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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Our target for sewage reduction is the most ambitious target put forward by any Government in our country’s history, and I am very proud of that. It is an important stepping-stone to restoring our rivers, lakes and seas to the good health and purity that many of us will remember from when we were younger.
21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source
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There is a system in place for when licences are breached; it is called special administration. The reason we are strengthening regulation and changing the regulator is so that we can prevent such failures. The £104 billion that we secured at the end of last year will help to upgrade pipes, so that we can reduce the amount of water leaking out of the system, and pay to build and dig out the new reservoirs to catch the rain, so that there is a supply of water in the drier periods.
19 Jun 2025 · River Pollution · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend will be aware that we inherited record levels of sewage pollution in our waterways from the previous Government. Since the election, we have launched the biggest crackdown on water pollution in history: unfair bonuses have been banned for water company executives, and water bosses who cover up pollution crimes now face up to two years in prison. We will also invest a record £104 billion of private funding to upgrade crumbling sewage pipes and reduce discharges by nearly 50% within five years.
19 Jun 2025 · River Pollution · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for her question, and I understand her concerns. I reassure her that the Government will always act in the national interest on these issues. Thames Water must meet its statutory and regulatory obligations to its customers and to the environment—it is only right that the company is subject to the same consequences as any other water company. The company remains financially stable, but we have stepped up our preparations and stand ready for all eventualities, as I have said before, including a special administration regime, if that were to become necessary.
19 Jun 2025 · River Pollution · Hansard source
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The hon. Member will be aware that we are supporting work in the Wye catchment area to deal with those problems, but she is quite right in what she says. The environmental land management schemes support farmers to reduce agricultural run-off. We are making the announcement that she just mentioned today, and we are also supporting the ELM schemes, which help farmers to improve their soil quality so that the soil holds more water, and to use less fertiliser and pesticides, which reduces the amount of run-off. Therefore, we are taking action on agricultural pollution, and the announcement that she asked for is being made today.
19 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is of course an outstanding champion for his constituents in Stoke-on-Trent North. During 2024-25, more than 800 compliance inspections were conducted at Severn Trent Water sites. The Environment Agency will be attending more minor pollution incidents and will continue to attend all serious pollution incidents. We have, of course, given Ofwat the power to ban the payment of bonuses to water bosses who damage the environment and let customers down. I congratulate my hon. Friend on supporting those tough new measures.
19 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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As the hon. Member says, I do know of this situation because the facility is adjacent to my constituency as well. He will know that I cannot comment on what the Environment Agency is intending to do, because it is its decision. None the less, I certainly agree with him that the EA must listen to constituents and people living in the local area who will be affected by this decision.
19 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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First, I remind the hon. Gentleman that I attended the Royal Cornwall Show with him just a few days ago. I am surprised he has forgotten that, because we sat together in the same tent and enjoyed a very pleasant lunch. I do not know what is wrong with his memory, but anyway. The funding for ELM schemes paid to farmers will increase from £800 million in the last year of the Tory Government to £2 billion by 2028-29—that is a 150% increase under Labour compared with what the Tories were paying. No wonder the hon. Gentleman is so angry.
19 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I am happy to send the shadow Minister the list of media coverage I got from the Royal Cornwall Show. He does not seem to be any better at googling than remembering who he sat down with at lunch. I am delighted that the spending review was welcomed by the environmental NGOs and the National Farmers Union as it funds activities that include the ones he referred to. It seems that everyone is delighted with the review apart from him.
19 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Last week, the Minister for Water and Flooding and I attended the United Nations ocean conference in Nice. We announced that the Government will introduce a Bill by the end of the year to ratify the high seas treaty, delivering on our commitment to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. This agreement will provide the first legal mechanism to create protected areas in international waters. The UK reiterated our commitment to agreeing an ambitious plastic pollution treaty in Geneva this coming August, and we have outlined our plans to ban bottom trawling across more of our English seas in marine protected areas. These measures will protect sensitive seabed habitats and important species from the destruction caused by this damaging practice.
3 Jun 2025 · Thames Water · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for his question. We are prepared for every eventuality, as I have outlined, and we will take whatever action is necessary to ensure the continuing supply of water to customers in the Thames Water region and elsewhere.
3 Jun 2025 · Thames Water · Hansard source
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As I have said, the Government stand ready for all eventualities, should they be needed.
3 Jun 2025 · Thames Water · Hansard source
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Water is indeed a human right, which is why this Government are taking every step necessary to sort out the broken water system that we inherited from the previous Government.

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